Requiem of Subdued Souls

The moment Seol Young stepped onto the bridge, he thought,

‘It should be rocking.’

But it wasn’t. Even though it was a floating structure, there was stability on the bridge, as if they were stepping on the ground.

Seol Young strongly stepped on the wooden plank several times.

“Strong.”

“We are always good at such things. When others were still hammering in nails, we were already making boats and putting together uneven woods.”

Zaha replied.

Of course, this floating market had already burned down in the past. What they were stepping on now was nothing but an unrealistic space.

However, just as the Ghost City was here, it also meant that supernatural power existed here. If the original power of the city was strong, then having someone stronger in it was equally dangerous.

Seol Young looked around at the bridge filled with ghosts.

“We don’t have to worry about it collapsing.”

“Why are you this worried?”

“I hate water.”

Seol Young mumbled.

The Devil Lair Lord might have chosen the floating market, knowing that.

And the thought of that gave him goosebumps.

“What are you doing? Won’t come?”

“I want to come too.”

Zaha said,

“But it is blocked ahead.”

“…”

Come to think of it, the crowd wasn’t moving. What was happening in front?

He looked over his shoulder.

“All in one line!”

They heard someone yelling.

There was a large door at the end of the bridge leading to the Ghost City.

Around the door, there were city officials. They all wore the same bizarre mask with white eyes.

“If you can’t identify yourself, you can’t enter the city!”

The officials shouted.

Seol Young was puzzled.

“Identification? Does that mean even ghosts have an identification?”

“It is here!”

The dog-headed ghost next to him shouted. While watching everyone, a ghost with horns on its head passed through the door, and a black whirlwind immediately rose beneath its feet.

The next moment, the furry clothing the demonic beast wore turned into a jacket.

“A commoner!”

Someone shouted.

Looking at it, it seemed that the gate played the role of evaluating and classifying those entering the city.

When one passed through the door, a thing that looked like a card was issued around their neck.

Seol Young tilted his head.

“But what is the criterion for determining one’s identity?”

After observing for a while, Zaha said,

“I get it. It’s the spiritual power. The identity is determined according to the spiritual power of the person who enters.”

“Aha…”

Seol Young thought.

‘Now that I’ve lost my spiritual power and my spiritual qi is very weak, I will be at the bottom of the list.’

His prediction wasn’t wrong. Eventually, when Seol Young passed through the gate when it was his turn, a black whirlwind rose beneath his feet.

At that moment, the silk clothes he was wearing vanished, and they changed into a long jacket and baggy pants. Then an identity card hung around his neck.

“One of humble birth!”

The official said.

Seol Young looked down, shocked. Even his sword had vanished.

He screamed on the inside.

“My sword?”

The official said,

“Lowly people don’t carry swords. You get your clothes and things when you leave.”

“What?”

He tried to get it back right away, but Zaha stopped him.

“Aren’t you going in?”

Seol Young finally regained his calm. There was no other choice but to enter.

He didn’t like it but still went in, and then Zaha moved through the door.

At that moment, a flash of light burst out.

“Noble!”

The official said. Everyone looked envious at this.

But Zaha didn’t seem to like it.

“I wanted to be a commoner…..”

After saying that, he crossed the door.

‘It cannot be.’

Seol Young thought.

Spiritual power, the power of the Cataclysm, the power of the Tree Spirit, and the experience of dying—putting them all together, it should be normal.

“But why do we need status to attend the market?”

“We’ll have to figure it out on our own from now on. First, while looking for the Lord.”

The two crossed the market and tried to move, but then they heard a whistle from behind.

Looking back, it was the official with a large white face and black mask, and white eyes that was looking at them.

“Not that side.”

Zaha looked at him and asked,

“Why?”

“That is the road to the Immortal Realm. You cannot go in there.”

“Even a noble?”

The official was silent and then said,

“Seeing that you don’t know of this place, it must be your first time here. In addition, there are other levels too.”

“Levels?”

“The Ghost City is made up of three levels—the Endurance Realm, the Immortal Realm, and the Heavenly Demon Realm.”

The ghost continued,

“For people in levels nine, eight, and seven, they are allowed in the market. People at levels six, five, and four can get up to the Immortal Realm, and those at levels three, two, and one can go up until the Heavenly Demon Realm.”

Finally, they got some information.

Seol Young whispered at this.

“It seems like the Black and White GO place. There, they are also divided into three levels according to the GO skills, do you remember?”

“Are you saying that this is the same as that? Then the Devil Lair Lord must be in the Heavenly Demon Realm.”

Zaha asked,

“What is our level?”

“It is on the back of your identity card.”

The two flipped them over at the same time. They had already expected it, and both of their cards had nine written on them.

Zaha asked,

“How do we raise this?”

“…”

There was no answer, and that meant that he wasn’t going to tell them. Instead, the official said,

“The nobles and commoners travel separately, and the order of the market is disturbed now.”

Zaha just turned around, and it seemed like he was acting like he didn’t hear it. But everyone was looking his way.

“Attracting attention won’t be good.”

Seol Young said as he headed to the Endurance Realm.

“It would be better to go alone for a while and gather information.”

“Will that be fine? Can the shy one go without the young Lord to speak on his behalf and guide him?”

“What do you mean? I am deliberately staying still to restore my mental health while talking to normal people.”

Seol Young replied,

“I will look into this and that among the lowly people, so the noble should conduct a search around the nobles. If anything happens, we will meet under the flag at the center.”

“Nice. Then.”

The two of them talked and parted ways.

‘Where do I start?’

Seol Young looked around and began to walk.

The goods sold in this place didn’t seem to be different from those sold on the human market. Earthenware, fruits, animals, imported goods from the West…

But it was strange that they were human things.

The ghosts and demonic beings were busy buying things. Seol Young hid behind a pillar and observed them.

‘For a moment.’

Something stood out.

The money the ghosts and the others used to pay the merchants was also unusual. It was a pitch-black coin with the word ‘Ghost’ engraved in the middle.

‘Is that the currency of this place?’

Then, someone tapped him on the back, and when he turned around, there was a black face in front of him. It was the official from earlier.

“Look here. Commoner. Do you have ghost coins?”

Ghost coins, ghost money—that must be the name of the currency.

Seol Young shook his head without saying a thing.

“Then you need to earn it. Isn’t that how you can buy things, drink alcohol, and enjoy life here?”

The official said and pointed to one place.

“That place there is hiring workers. Go make some money there.”

The owner of that place was looking his way, and Seol Young headed there. ｂ𝚎𝚍𝚗𝚘𝚟𝚎ｌ.ｎｅｔ

“What do you do here?”

“I brew alcohol, sell it, and deliver it to those who drink. Come here if you want to work.”

He was quite intrigued by the alcohol sold in this place, so Seol Young went inside.

“We have a newcomer.”

As they heard the words of the owner, the workers looked at him.

‘All of them must be dead.’

That thought ran through Seol Young’s head.

The owner took Seol Young to a lady.

“This is a busy place. Get to work right now. Teach the newcomer everything. Just tell him simple things and make him do them right away.”

“Yes.”

A senior worker named Su Ryun asked with a cold face,

“Do you know how to read?”

“Yes.”

“Not a lie?”

She brought in an alcohol jar and asked him to read it, and Seol Young read it.

“Then take care of the alcohol jars. When an order comes in, the server will ring a bell and place a wooden plaque. We need to read the order and quickly find the jug they asked for and deliver it.”

Su Ryun put the thing down.

“You can put the alcohol jar on the tray there and prepare to serve it. When there is just one jar, you can use your hand, and when there are two, put it on the tray.”

Seol Young put the tray down as Su Ryun had said. He thought he had done it right, but she shouted.

“You cannot do it like that!”

What?

Without saying a word, Seol Young picked it up and put it back down.

“Do it right!”

Su Ryun groaned and bent down, reaching out for the tray.

But at that moment, her hand quickly moved and wrote on the floor.

‘Run away.’

Seol Young looked at it dazed and then looked at her.